Hey All

Here is a good site for comparisons of a few of the POV cameras.

I purchased my Contour from them, along with some acessories at different times.
Good customer service and shipping.


http://pointofviewcameras.com/

I have a Contour HD and the video quality is good, and being able to screw on a UV and ND filter really help with prop/glare, but lack of remote just really limits it practicality. The new one with the viewfinder is a big improvement on composing your shot, but no remote.

The Drift is really the best one out there all around I think.

While I am not crazy about the form factor, the new GoPro Hero2 I think will be cool. Remote and remote viewfinder via smart phone, different FOV lens, LED's on all sides so you know its recording, you can even stream live if you have a connection. Suppose to have great low light perf. - we'll see!

Contour was the first to offer Bluetooth viewing and control through a smart phone. Look at the Contour GPS or Contour+ models. It's been available for a couple of years.

Whatever cam you select, it'll be outdated fairly quickly as the manufacturers race to upstage each other. I have 4 different cams. The original POV-1 is still my favorite helmet cam. For riding snowgos I prefer a lipstick cam and separate recorder that's tucked inside my coat. For remote mounting on a strut the Drift and Contour are both good units. My GoPro collects dust in the cabinet.

Sorry for the double topic.

I like the GPS feature of the Contour, but the problem is sharing the videos. They can be posted to Contour's website and the video will include the ground track, including speed and elevation. Problem is, when a person edits with any other video editor all of the GPS data is not included. (Or I ain't smart enough to do it )

Maybe one of these days it can be.

Uh, not unless something has changed VERY recently. The contour GPS and + allow you to use your phone as a VIEWFINDER, but do not allow remote control. I have researched this extensively. There are some mods you can do if you want to void your warranty. Someone may be making an aftermarket add on, but you CANNOT remotely start and stop recording.

Not stop/start but you can change camera settings. With a decent size SD card the available record time is plenty to handle any flights I want to record so the remote control thing never interested me. In the 5-6 years I've had a POV-1 and the 3 or so years I've had a Drift I've never used either remote control. I like to record in bulk and edit on a computer. Additional SD cards are easy to carry and I will when I'm on multi-day trips away from the computer, like at Arctic Man. Personal preference. The market offers lots of choices.

Here is another cool modification to the contour.

http://www.nflightcam.com/

X2 on the Drift Camera.

Screen, rotating lens, and RF remote are the big key factors. Other things to consider, with the drift you get 170° wide angle, aux mic input, standard camera mount (think RAM mounts), option for extended battery, lots of flexibility on scene modes/controls, etc.

$170 for a Drift HD170 Stealth, I don't think there's a better deal out there right now. The Contour has nice features, as well as the Hero 2, but as Emflys pointed out, they still lack the remote. I'd like to get my hands on a Drift HD and see if the price is worth the difference. But I'm not sure if the smaller size and removable lens is justification IMO.

AND... Drift Innovation and http://www.mypov360.com supported the 2011 backcountrypilot.org raffle at JC this year by giving us a HD170 Stealth.

I think if the Contour would add remote, it would be 100x better. It has a standard lens threaded lens ring and can get all sorts of screw on filters for them. The lens also rotates.

Too many options!! I'd like to have the Hero2 and be able to exploit the strenghts of all of them.

I looked at the GoPro, Contour and Drift before buying a Drift HD170 Stealth camera. Here's why I chose the Drift:
- Display screen on the camera allows you to see what you will record without going through a lot of gyrations.
- 1/4 threaded camera mount allows a lot of mounting flexibility.
- RF remote control allows you to turn the strut mounted camera on/off reliably to save footage and make editing easier.
- It seems to handle vibration better than the Contour and GoPro.
- Based on a 3 camera comparison in YouTube, I liked the sharpness, color balance and vibration handling best on the Drift http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5v36v2zpqQ
- Price was hard to beat.

One suggestion I would also like to make on the subject:

Get a camera of some sort, whatever a person can manage, mount it anywhere on the plane, and start making videos.

If a man waits for the next best thing, he will miss out on a lot of fun!
I have not seen a video yet that would warrant me telling the owner to delete it from the site.

After a flight, the video review is well worth the price paid.
It's kinda like whatching an old favorite movie, you always see something that you missed during the flight.

POV is so 2010.